


A Silent Devotion

by justyrae



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, F/M, Flirting, Frottage, Genderswap, Kissing, Secret Relationship, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-21 07:16:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2459597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Louis and Niall are assigned to the biggest case of their careers, the pressure is on to keep things...professional.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Silent Devotion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haventquitefinished](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haventquitefinished/gifts).



> dearest A, I hope you enjoy this.
> 
> alternatively titled "Undercover in a Gay Bar" because of some random post on tumblr that inspired most of this fic.
> 
> title from 'Angels' by The XX

Louis had been expecting any number of things when he and Niall were called into Captain Cowell's office that afternoon; he'd thought maybe one of them had received a commendation for their efforts on the last bust, but he was moreso dreading another stern talking-to about the importance of not getting distracted.

Either way, Louis absolutely did not expect what came out of Captain Cowell's mouth the moment he and Niall sat down.

"I'm sorry, you want us to go undercover _where_?"

"Woody's," he replied with a smirk that Louis absolutely did not like the look of. "We've received an anonymous tip that it's the front for the George family's drug ring, and I want you two to head up the operation."

"When do we start?" Niall asked, completely ignoring the aghast look on Louis' face.

"Tonight," Cowell continued. "Friday is one of their busiest nights - or so I'm told - and our contact also mentioned that's when the bulk of their deals are made."

"Straightforward op, then?" Niall looked at Louis and grinned. "This should be good."

"Remember, call for backup if you need it and _please_ don't embarrass this precinct," Cowell said with a sigh. "I've already got the Commissioner breathing down my neck for the last screw-up, I don't need any more."

"But we made the bust!" Louis protested, immediately snapping his mouth shut when he received a look he was not fond of. "Sorry, Sir."

"You're dismissed."

Niall and Louis stood up to head for the door, but something was nagging Louis in the back of his mind and he just _had_ to ask.

"Sir, forgive me if this is out of order, but why'd you pick us?"

Captain Cowell looked at the pair of them over his glasses and grinned.

"Who better than you?"

Niall immediately clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a loud cackle, quickly grabbing onto Louis' arm to pull him out of the office before he did something incredibly stupid.

*

"I'm just _saying_ \--"

Niall rolled her eyes as she tried to tune out the sound of Louis' voice. One would think after four years of being his partner she would've picked up that trick by now, but alas she hadn't yet. Louis huffed loudly behind her and she paused in applying her eyeliner to stare at him in the mirror expectantly.

"You've been saying the same thing since the captain gave us the assignment. Time to suck it up, love."

"Easy for you to say," Louis grumbled, "he didn't imply you could most easily pass as a gay man."

Niall laughed loudly, nearly poking herself in the eye in the process. "I could though, technically speaking."

"I'm being serious," Louis replied flatly. Niall's jaw dropped and she stared at Louis with wide eyes.

"You? Being _serious_? Never!" Niall grinned. "They must've swapped the real you out with a body double; the Louis Tomlinson I know is never serious about anything."

Louis scowled at her but it did nothing to deter her smile. She finally finished applying the remainder of her makeup and tossed her bag back into her locker before sitting down next to Louis on the bench where he'd been sulking for the last twenty minutes.

"This wouldn't be happening if we just _told_ everyone," Louis mumbled.

Niall laughed softly as she gently laid her hand on top of Louis' and gave it a light squeeze. "We talked about this, remember? The mountain of paperwork?"

Louis wrinkled his nose. "Don't remind me."

"It's cute that your hate of filling out paperwork outweighs your need to prove your masculinity." Niall nudged Louis' shoulder. "You know if I were a gay man, I'd shag you."

"You'd shag me now," Louis replied with a smirk. "At least, that's what you've been saying."

Niall grinned as Louis leaned in and brushed their lips together, pulling away before anyone could walk in and catch them in the act. They'd only been seeing each other in secret for a few weeks; the years of sexual tension had finally gotten to them on their last undercover assignment, and they'd nearly botched the whole setup because they were too busy snogging each other's faces off.

Since then, they both thought it'd be best if they kept their involvement outside of the precinct to themselves - at least, as much as they could. They couldn't help the occasional snog; especially when Louis said Niall was making it extremely hard to concentrate on anything other than the way her legs looked in her work skirts.

("You've seen me in this a hundred times," Niall had all but gasped into Louis' ear late one night after their shift had ended and Louis had dragged her back to his flat.

"Wasn't allowed to _touch_ before now, was I?" Louis muttered, immediately remedying that fact by hiking her skirt up. Niall hadn't been able to reply; too distracted by how _good_ Louis' hands felt on her skin to protest any further.)

This assignment was different - much higher stakes and neither of them could afford to make any mistakes. The entire precinct had been waiting for a break in this case for weeks, and Niall most certainly didn't want to be responsible for ruining her coworker's efforts just because Louis couldn't keep his hands to himself.

"Time to get into character, Lou." She smirked. "One look at your bum and the whole club will be on their knees for you."

"Christ, Ni," Louis groaned. "Don't sound so excited about it."

"But I am! Tonight, I'm your wingwoman!"

"I need a fucking drink," Louis muttered under his breath as he followed Niall out of the precinct, absolutely refusing to make eye contact with anyone that passed.

*

It wasn't fair that Louis had to spend all night with Niall (all dolled up like it was a proper night out) and _not_ be able to do anything about it. He had to refrain from touching her even more than he normally did at the precinct, just to make sure he didn't blow their cover.

It didn't mean he had to enjoy it. Or that he wasn't allowed to complain about it whenever he could.

"That man was practically undressing me with his eyes!" Louis muttered harshly to Niall as they squeezed through the door to the club. "I should go back and arrest him for public indecency."

"You can't do that," Niall replied with a laugh. "He didn't even do anything!"

"He was _leering_!"

Niall came to a stop in the crowd, pressing herself against Louis so she could put her lips to his ear and Louis had to ball his hands into fists to keep them at his sides.

"If you don't shut the fuck up you're going to ruin everything. Just let it go, alright?"

"Fine," Louis muttered. Niall pulled away and smiled. She opened her mouth as if to say something further, but instead she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. Louis wanted to ask what was on her mind; he could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to say something that she couldn't, given the fact that their conversation was being recorded by their backup in a van down the street.

He nervously reached up and pressed at his left ear - where the tiny Bluetooth earpiece had been unceremoniously shoved into his ear canal minutes before he and Niall had exited the van - frowning when Niall smacked his hand away. As if he wasn't uncomfortable enough with this assignment as it was, he had a sinking feeling that their fellow detectives would be taking the piss for the better part of the decade once this was over.

Louis snapped back to his senses just in time to catch Niall before she ditched him in the crowd. He quickly followed her through the sea of people to the bar, and by the time he reached her she was already chatting up the bartender.

"It's Louis' first time," she said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, smiling widely at the bartender. He eyed Louis appreciatively and winked, causing Louis to blush uncomfortably.

"Well, if you need _anything_ ," he said as he leaned on the bar and grinned, "m'name's Zayn."

"Isn't he lovely?" Niall preened, leaning on the bar next to Zayn and grinning at Louis in the same fashion. "I've been trying to get him to come here for _ages_."

"You've been here before?" Zayn asked. Niall huffed sadly, pulling her bottom lip down in such a perfect pout that even Louis was impressed.

" _No_ because _this one_ refused!" Niall grinned at Louis quickly before she turned back to Zayn. "Been trying to convince him so I can be the ultimate wingwoman."

"Is that right?" Zayn replied amusedly, his eyes darting back to Louis. "Looking for someone special, then?"

Louis stood frozen, completely unaware of how to deal with his current situation. It definitely did not help that within the last five minutes he was absolutely certain that every person who passed behind him had taken the opportunity to grope his arse.

"I--"

"He's shy," Niall insisted, leaning in to whisper in Louis' ear, "would you _relax_ before you blow this whole thing?"

"M'sorry!" he whispered harshly, ducking his head so Zayn couldn't see what he was saying. "I don't know how to deal with this!"

"Aww," Niall said as she pulled back, putting on a smile once more, "you'll never guess what he said."

"What's that?" Zayn asked, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Louis was starting to wonder if this bloke actually _worked_ here or if he was behind the bar for laughs. Either way, he just wanted a drink and Zayn wasn't doing bloody anything.

"Well I can't say, can I?" Niall leaned on the bar. "But you might get it out of him if he gets a little _courage_ , yeah?"

"Say no more," Zayn said as he smiled at Niall, standing up straight with a wink in Louis' direction. Louis looked to Niall for help, an answer, _anything_ ; but she just grinned. A minute later, Zayn put two drinks on the bar and slid them towards Louis and Niall.

Louis stared down at the drink and then back up at Zayn for a moment, hesitantly sliding his hand towards the glass. As much as he wanted - no, _needed_ \- this, he wasn't entirely sure if he should trust it. That, and neither he nor Niall were technically supposed to drink while on the job but...this night was going to be even more grueling if Louis didn't get some alcohol in his system right away.

"Liquid courage, yeah?" Zayn chuckled. Louis tried his best to smile in response, but was sure it came across as more of a grimace. Zayn didn't seem to mind as he winked back at Louis, watching intently as he brought the glass up to his lips and took a long drink.

Niall had already knocked her drink back by the time Louis set his glass back down on the bar, and she smiled widely at Louis before turning to Zayn.

"Could I leave him in your--" Niall looked down at Zayn's hands with a wicked grin before quirking her eyebrows - she was clearly having far too much fun with this for Louis' liking - and continuing, "-- _very_ capable hands for a minute?"

"Absolutely," Zayn replied with a smirk. Niall leaned in to Louis, wrapping one hand tightly around his wrist as she put her lips to his ear.

"Time to meet the contact. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, yeah?"

"Be _careful_ ," Louis murmured in return and Niall rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly," she said loudly as she pulled away from Louis, "you'll be fine!"

Louis clenched his jaw as Niall slipped into the crowd, disappearing within seconds. He turned back to the bar, ignoring the look Zayn gave him as he downed the rest of his drink. Luckily, Zayn replaced it quickly before he turned his attention to another customer and moved away from Louis.

He knew he shouldn't have his back to the crowd; he was supposed to be keeping watch and making sure that he could call for backup the moment he saw anything. He fought the urge to  slip his hand into his pocket and hit the SOS button - if he called in backup too early it would blow everything. But there was something in the pit of his stomach making him feel so uneasy that he could hardly concentrate. Louis had tried chalking it up to feeling mildly uncomfortable being leered at by nearly every man they had passed on the way towards the bar, but deep down he knew that wasn't it.

Louis had always had a particular protective streak when it came to Niall, even when they had first been assigned as partners. She had constantly told him off for it in the beginning; claiming that just because she was a woman didn't mean she needed to be looked after. Louis admired her spirit and had honestly tried his best to let her do what she did best, but now that they were more than just partners, it was getting harder to let go.

In the few years that they'd worked together as partners, they'd both had their fair share of close scrapes that - if things had been just slightly different - could've ended up far worse than they had. Louis could recall several instances where he'd been legitimately afraid that Niall was going to get herself killed, and he was sure Niall would be able to do the same.

It all seemed so different now; it was terrifying that things could change so quickly in such a short amount of time. As Louis gripped his glass and stared down at the bar, he realized that he was worried even more than usual. The last thing he wanted was for Niall to get hurt; especially if he wasn't able to be there to get her out of trouble.

He tried to push the thoughts out of his head - there was no use in getting upset over something he had almost no control over. Niall was not the type to change who she was just to make someone else happy. She knew who she was and what she wanted, and there was nothing anyone could do to make her do otherwise. That was part of the reason why Louis was so drawn to her in the first place; he'd realized it after their first night together, long after Niall had fallen asleep in his bed next to him.

Louis remembered the way she held her composure through Cowell's shouting - they'd been so lucky not to botch the whole operation but that didn't mean they weren't going to get an earful - but she nearly collapsed in his arms once they'd left the office.

"That was awful," she groaned as she pressed her fingers against her temple. "M'going to be hearing his voice in my head for days."

"Could've been worse," Louis murmured, dodging the looks of their coworkers as the pair walked towards the entrance of the station. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for the two of them to leave together, but he felt hyper-aware of everyone's eyes on them; as though they already knew what had really gone on inside the stakeout van.

"I need to get my mind off it," Niall said with a heavy sigh once they'd left the station. She turned towards Louis, making them both stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Niall glanced behind him, making sure nobody was around before she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "can we go to yours?"

Louis immediately tightened his arm around her waist and grunted softly in agreement. Niall let out a giggle, already well on her way to a better mood.

Niall wasted no time once they'd made it to Louis' flat; she pressed him against the back of his front door and kissed him eagerly, just like she had in the van hours before. Now that he'd had a taste of what it was like, Louis couldn't keep his hands off of her. She whined against his mouth when he pulled her flush against him, pressing his leg between her own and letting out a low groan when she started grinding against his thigh.

She pulled away, gasping " _Louis_ " as he started kissing and sucking her neck; so desperate to keep himself as close to her as possible. Niall grappled with pulling off Louis' tie, practically ripping the buttons off his shirt in an effort to reveal the skin underneath. Her skirt was already hitched halfway up her thigh, and Louis used that to his advantage as he slid a hand underneath to grab her arse. She immediately bucked her hips forward roughly, moaning at the friction of Louis' thigh between her legs.

"Bedroom," he grunted into her ear. Louis didn't know how much longer he was going to last if he wasn't able to see, touch, and taste every inch of Niall's skin.

She let out a soft, indignant noise as she stepped back, forcing Louis to remove his hand from under her skirt. He stepped forward and kissed her deeply, smiling when she pulled back with a giggle before taking off at a run towards his bedroom.

Niall had already stripped down to her knickers by the time Louis had made it to the bedroom - a feat that had Louis quite impressed, given that he was all of ten seconds behind her - and was sprawled out on his bed with a look that nearly made Louis' legs give out from under him. He quickly tore off his shirt and pulled down his trousers, leaving him in just his pants as he crawled onto the bed and hovered above Niall.

She gasped out his name again when he pressed himself against her, immediately fisting her hands in his hair as she crashed their mouths together. Louis couldn't help but start grinding against her, positive he'd never been this hard in his _life_ and he wasn't entirely certain he'd be able to stand not being inside her for much longer.

Niall was apparently just as eager; she let go of Louis' hair with one hand and pushed it between them to get Louis' pants off, and he did the same with her knickers. Louis had just enough control of his mind to grab a condom from his nightstand, which Niall immediately snatched out of his hand and prepped him herself.

"Shit--" he groaned the moment she touched him, "Niall--"

"C'mon," she muttered, stroking him a few times to ensure the condom was on properly, "want you."

"Fuck," Louis groaned, leaning down to kiss Niall again as she guided him into her. They both sucked in sharp breaths as he pushed inside, and Niall shook uncontrollably as she let out a whimper.

" _God_ ," she cried out, "c'mon, fuck me."

"Yes, ma'am," Louis replied cheekily, letting out a breathy laugh as he started thrusting into her. His laughter lasted about twenty seconds before the both of them were breathing hard and moaning in sync. Louis pressed his face against Niall's neck as he rocked his hips against hers, sinking his teeth into the tender skin and making her shake even more.

If it had been with anyone else, Louis might've been a bit embarrassed about his stamina that night. But this was _Niall_ \- and he'd been so wound up for most of the night that he was surprised he lasted as long as he did.

"You mean I have more to look forward to?" Niall teased later that night, still naked and curled into Louis' side so she could trail kisses along his neck.

"I would hope so," Louis murmured as he tilted his head down to brush their lips together. If his hand just happened to slip from its spot on Niall's hip to between her legs, well, it was entirely an accident.

"Louis!" she squeaked, followed by a soft groan as she tried to push his hand away. "Give a girl a chance to breathe, yeah?"

Louis sighed dramatically and replied, "if you must."

"Cheeky," she mumbled through a smile.

*

If Louis had his way, he and Niall would've been wrapped up in the sheets of his bed hours ago and _not_ in the middle of a soon-to-be raid of a gay bar. If he was being honest with himself, the thought of going home with Niall that night was the only thing keeping him going.

It may have had something to do with the fact that he'd had his bum pinched more in the last hour than he had in his entire life - but he wasn't going to admit that. There wasn't much he could do about it anyway, lest he risk blowing their cover.

The thing was, Louis was facing two problems: one, Niall had been gone for quite a long time and Louis hadn't seen _anything_ suspicious - which of course was making him even more nervous. The only thing keeping Louis from going absolutely mental was the fact that he could still hear Niall's voice in his ear. He tried not to concentrate on what she was saying, but he was finding it harder to do than the last time they'd been in this situation. The whole reason behind wearing the earpieces was to keep in contact, but Louis found that he had to try his best to ignore Niall's voice so he didn't appear overly distracted to anyone around him.

As much as he wanted to hang on her every word - if only to make sure that she wasn't getting herself into trouble - he concentrated on surveillance of the crowd around him to keep him from doing anything particularly stupid. This, however, lead to his second problem: a bloke at the opposite end of the bar who would not stop _staring_ at him.

Louis tried not to make eye contact - he really did - but even when he turned away he could still feel himself being watched. He tried to act normal about it, wracking his brain to think of a way to deal with this as though he were actually interested in blokes. He snuck a look back out of the corner of his eye and was very relieved when he didn't see him - only to nearly jump out of his skin when he appeared at Louis' side.

"Hi," he drawled in a low voice. Louis' mouth went dry and his heart started pounding - and most certainly not in a good way. "M'Harry."

"Louis," he choked out. Harry chuckled wryly as he put his arm behind Louis on the bar, leaning closer and making the situation ten times more uncomfortable.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Louis held up the glass in his hand and gave a nervous laugh, "got one."

"Next one, then?" Harry smiled and Louis' eyes darted to the dimples in his cheeks. He was extremely attractive, there was no doubt about it, but Louis could _not_ afford to be distracted.

He could just imagine the look on Niall's face if she were here to see this. She'd probably end up asking Harry if he wanted to go home with the both of them, if the circumstances were different.

Louis immediately pushed that idea out of his head - that was absolutely not the right thing to be thinking about at that moment. He had a job to do, and Harry was a distraction.

"Is this your first time here?" Harry asked, pulling Louis out of his thoughts. Louis nodded in response, turning his head away from Harry and scanning the room again.

He could do this; he could get his head back into work mode and ignore the very blatant _come hither_ looks Harry was giving him. Louis tried very hard not to imagine his coworkers in the van outside, probably laughing their arses off at his current situation. He would absolutely never forgive Cowell for this assignment, that's for sure.

Louis froze when he felt a hand on the small of his back, hesitant at first but Louis had a feeling that if he didn't put a stop to Harry right then that his hand would soon be pressed against the curve of his bum. He turned towards Harry to give him a piece of his mind - consequently causing Harry's hand to rest on his hip - trying to keep as much distance between the two of them as he could, so as to not give Harry the wrong idea.

"Look, I don't think--"

"You seem nervous," Harry interrupted with a smile. "You shouldn't be."

"M'not _nervous_ ," Louis replied in a huff. "I just--" He paused, squawking slightly when Harry's hand began to wander again and he quickly yanked it away. "Oi, watch it."

"Sorry." Harry smirked, clearly not sorry at all. "Can't help it."

"Try," Louis snapped. Harry's smirk didn't falter - in fact, it looked like he was even more intrigued than before. Louis knew it wasn't going to be easy to brush him off; even as he looked past Harry in the direction that Niall had gone, he could feel Harry's fingertips lightly brushing against his hip again.

Louis slapped Harry's hand away, making sure to do it as hard as he could and taking pleasure in the soft cry that fell from Harry's lips. His joy was short-lived, as the smirk reappeared on Harry's face and he leaned in to whisper in Louis' ear.

"I like it rough."

In all honesty, Louis would've liked nothing more than to shove Harry away - maybe pin him to the bar and rough him up a bit, see if he was still smirking with handcuffs on his wrists - but his attention was stolen away by the sound of screaming in his ear. He recognized it immediately as Niall, and he threw himself into the crowd in the direction that Niall had gone earlier - already ignoring the orders being shouted into his ear by his fellow officers outside.

Every face around Louis was a complete blur as he pushed anyone he came in contact with out of his way; he was desperately searching for Niall, even though he knew that she hadn't been in the main room of the club for ages. He heard the roars of his fellow detectives coming through the front door, shouting for everyone to stay where they were and to keep calm - which, of course, no one ever did.

If Louis thought that finding Niall was hard before, it was near impossible once everyone sprang into an absolute panic. Through the mass hysteria, Louis spots someone who looks very much like he doesn't want to be found.

Louis recognizes him immediately - his mugshot has been passed around the precinct enough times for anyone to be able to identify him on sight - and for the moment, he forces himself to put the case before his terror over Niall's wellbeing.

"Jay McGuinness!" he shouts, managing to catch his attention even though Louis' voice hardly carried over the din of the room. Jay's eyes widened at the sight of him, but Louis had already come too close for him to slip away.

"You've got nothing on me," he grunted as Louis pushed him against the wall - using slightly more force than absolutely necessary, but he doubted that Jay was the type of bloke to press charges for a little roughing up.

"Is that so?" Louis asked as he pinned Jay's hands behind his back. "Then why'd you reach for this?" he continued as he patted down the side of Jay's jacket, feeling the outline of a gun hidden under the fabric.

"I've got a permit for that," Jay said through gritted teeth as Louis took his gun and chuckled wryly; as Louis turned it over in his hand, he could clearly see where the serial number had been filed off.

"Sure you do. We'll look it up at the station, yeah?"

*

Louis didn't mean to get caught up in taking Jay back to the precinct - he'd meant to just put him in the back of a car and rush back into the club to look for Niall. But one thing had led to another (as per usual), and before he knew what had really happened he was already halfway there.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened a new text to Niall, but he paused before writing anything. His mind was overflowing with panic about what kind of situation Niall could've gotten herself into. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worse, especially if Niall was in hiding.

But still, he couldn't hold himself back forever.

_Niall, where are you? Please let me know you're okay._

Once he'd made it inside the building, it was clear there was no way he was getting back to the club any time soon. Nor was he able to get a moment alone to call Niall before he was being ordered by Captain Cowell to start interrogating the club employees. If it hadn't been a direct order, Louis would've been out the door as soon as possible.

But instead, he was stuck in a room with none other than the bouncer he'd been complaining about to Niall just hours earlier. However, he didn't seem nearly as pleased with himself now as he had the last time Louis saw him.

"So," Louis peered down at the name on the paperwork before him and snickered, "Liam Payne. Do you know why you're here?"

"No," Liam mumbled as he stared at his hands. Despite his size - he was easily twice as big as Louis, not that Louis was comparing himself to Liam - he was visibly terrified and quite possibly shaking. It was very likely that Louis was going to take a great deal of satisfaction in this interrogation.

"No idea, at all?" Louis continued. "Not even an inkling?"

"No," Liam replied pitifully. "I don't know why I'm here, and I certainly don't know why you're treating me like a criminal when I was just doing my job--"

"Yes, let's talk about your job." Louis shuffled through his paperwork - just to make Liam squirm. "You've been at the club for how long?"

"Just about a year, but--"

"And how long were you involved with the George family prior to that?"

"The-- Who?"

"The George family; Max George, known druglord and your _boss_."

"But--" Liam sputtered. "He's not-- I don't know--"

"Oh, come now, Mr. Payne. Don't act all innocent now."

"M'not acting!" Liam cried. "I don't know any Max George, he's not my boss!"

"Then who is?"

"Mr. Grimshaw," he replied after a heavy sigh.

"Grimshaw. Nick Grimshaw?" Louis asked. Liam nodded and Louis slumped back in his seat with a soft groan as he rubbed his temples. This was going to be a particularly long night.

After several minutes of silence, Louis got to his feet and started gathering up the file he'd strewn across the table.

"Alright, Mr. Payne. You're free to go."

"I'm-- I thought I was under arrest?"

"You were." Louis huffed. "But I can't very well charge you with anything, can I? Or have you done something that warrants it?"

Liam bit his lip and shook his head, but Louis could tell there was still something troubling him.

"Out with it."

"I thought-- I didn't know you were police."

"...and?"

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have come on so strong at the door--" Liam frowned and pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead, "--but Mr. Grimshaw insists on it, says I need to build blokes' confidence so they get more drinks or summat."

Louis opened his mouth to reply, but knew anything that was to come out after that was just going to add to Liam's turmoil. Instead, he shook his head and exited the interrogation room, only to be met with a ridiculous commotion outside.

"No, I will _not_ calm down! Tell me where he is!"

Louis stood still for a moment as he watched the bartender from the club nearly turn a desk over in his hysteria as he argued with one of Louis' fellow detectives. It wasn't until Zayn started shouting "Liam! Liam!" that Louis stepped in to mediate.

"Look, if you don't stop this immediately, we'll have to lock you up until you calm down and you won't see him for hours, yeah?"

Zayn stared Louis down, but quit trying to break free of his grip and eventually nodded as he fought to catch his breath.

"Where is he?" Zayn asked with a low growl.

"He's--"

But Louis didn't get to go on, because at that moment Liam came out from the interrogation room Louis had had him in and Zayn wrenched himself free from Louis' grip and ran into Liam's arms. Louis stared at them in bewilderment for a minute before turning back to Detective Hood, who was shaking his head.

"This is the most ridiculous night."

"You can say that again," Louis grumbled as he reached into his pocket to check his phone. There was no response from Niall, even though it had already been over an hour since Louis had sent the text. This did nothing to quell Louis' fears. "Have you heard anything from Niall?"

"Nah," he said with a frown, "Captain's been trying to reach her but nothing yet."

"I shouldn't have left," Louis mumbled under his breath. Detective Hood clapped him on the shoulder and slipped a new file into Louis' hands.

"Don't beat yourself up, mate. She'll turn up." He smiled, but it didn't do much to bring up Louis' spirits. "Meanwhile, you've got a live one in interrogation two."

Louis looked down at the file in his hand and grimaced. "Bloody hell."

*

Louis tried not to let his mind wander too far as he prepared for his next interrogation. He was purposefully taking his sweet time in making his way to the room; he wasn't all that keen on spending the next hour or so in a small room with Nick Grimshaw anyway.

He couldn't help but think of Niall, but in an effort to not start worrying himself sick over where she could be he forced himself to instead think about one of the first times they'd interrogated someone together. It was an absolute trainwreck; they'd only been partners for a few days and they were still working out the kinks of their working relationship.

The main problem between the pair stemmed from the fact that they each had very different approaches to interrogation. It was to be expected of course - as no two detectives in the precinct had the same interrogation style - but Louis and Niall clashed so much at first that their fellow detectives had started taking bets behind their backs to see who would crack first.

Louis knew he was controlling; he always had been, even as a child. It was common knowledge around the precinct, and probably was part of the reason why Louis had gone through so many partners in such a short span of time. The fact that he and Niall were put together just after she'd made detective annoyed Louis to no end. He'd heard countless tales through the grapevine of this rookie vice cop who had a tendency to get a little too close to the groups she was supposed to be infiltrating.

Niall was everyone's friend, while Louis saw them as a means to an end. Needless to say, everyone was expecting Louis to crack first and demand Niall be transferred elsewhere.

It wasn't until after their third bust that Niall had had enough of Louis shutting her out of every interrogation, and she pulled him aside before he could slam the door in her face. Niall was fully aware that all eyes were on them, but it didn't stop her from speaking her mind. Niall's forwardness surprised him; he'd never heard her so much as raise her voice to a fellow detective before, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to back down that easily.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bollocks, Lou. You've cut me out of every single one of these!"

"I've got more experience, I should--"

"How am I ever going to gain experience if you treat me like a bloody child?" Niall snapped before shouldering her way past Louis and into the room, kicking the door shut behind her right in Louis' face.

Looking back, Louis supposed he should've known from then that he was already in way too deep with Niall. All of his other partners up until then hadn't been afraid to get in his face but he'd never backed down before. This time was different, even if he hadn't realized it then. He'd shut up, ignored the looks from his co-workers and chosen to watch Niall from the other room as she interrogated their suspect.

Even if it wasn't his tactic, he couldn't deny that she still got the information they needed. Louis waited until they were alone before he apologized to Niall - he wasn't about to forfeit all of his pride and do it in front of the entire precinct - and she surprised him for a second time.

"S'alright. Buy me a pint and we'll call it even," she replied with a grin.

That was how it all had started, really. Louis told himself a hundred times that it was perfectly normal for partners to celebrate busts with a few rounds at a pub all the time - god knows Detectives Hood and Hemmings did it often enough - but a few recurring thoughts in the back of his mind made him think that it wasn't quite the same. Louis had tried to keep things professional at first, but Niall was just too endearing to let him get away with it forever.

Once the ice between them had been broken, Niall was insistent on the pair of them becoming friends. She told Louis that it would make them better partners; that the more they knew about each other, the more likely they were to be able to predict the other's moves and their success rate would go up. Louis agreed, but he couldn't deny that a large part of it was because the more he learned about Niall, the more he wanted to keep getting to know her.

Louis figured out he was in too deep one night in particular, when Niall had let it slip that she had a date that coming weekend. The very idea irked Louis to his core, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it. As far as he was concerned, Niall didn't see him in that way at all. She was friendly with everyone - that's just who she was; hanging all over Louis when they were off-duty didn't mean anything.

But it didn't stop Louis from wondering if Niall would find out if he ran a background check on her date. He could always play it off as being a protective partner, right?

As fate would have it, they were assigned to a stake-out the same night Niall was supposed to have this big date. Louis tried his hardest to contain his glee when he found out, thinking that Niall would probably be quite upset about the whole thing. But she hardly brought it up at all while they were sitting in the van, keeping a careful watch on their target.

"Sorry about tonight," Louis said casually, trying to keep his tone normal. Niall swiveled around in her chair and gave him a strange look. "Your date?"

"Nothing I can't reschedule," she replied with a smile. "Besides, wasn't your fault and this is more important, innit?"

"Yeah," Louis said as he cleared his throat.

"You alright, Lou?" Niall said as she rolled her chair closer to his. "You look a bit peaky."

"M'fine," he mumbled, thankful that he didn't flinch when she laid her hand on his shoulder.

"You sure?" Niall leaned further forward and brought her hand up to Louis' forehead, and Louis closed his eyes to keep himself from staring down her shirt. "You feel a bit warm."

"M'fine," he repeated as he pulled her hand down from his forehead. He opened his eyes to find her no more than a few inches away from him, and he just couldn't help what happened next. Louis found himself tugging on her arm to pull her closer, immediately cupping his other hand around the back of her neck to bring their lips together.

Niall made a soft noise of surprise against Louis' lips, but didn't pull away. It was possible that Louis was more surprised than Niall by their kiss, especially when she crawled out of her own seat and onto his lap.

A million things ran through Louis' head as they continued kissing, but he couldn't concentrate on much of anything once Niall fisted her hands in his hair and pressed herself flush against him. Louis let go of Niall's wrist, his hand finding its way down to her hip and he groaned softly when he felt her shudder.

"Fuckin' finally," she murmured against his lips when he hesitantly slipped his hand between them and pressed it against her. Niall pulled back and smiled at Louis, breathing hard and letting out a soft gasp when he started touching her with a firmer hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Louis caught sight of their prime suspect - the whole reason they were in this bloody van to begin with - on the screen behind Niall and he cursed loudly. Niall whipped around to see what Louis was looking at, consequently shifting around on Louis' lap so she could notify their team of what they'd seen. As Niall shouted instructions into the radio, Louis bit down hard on his lip to keep quiet - it wasn't his fault that Niall was sitting directly on top of where he was half-hard, and growing steadily harder the longer Niall stayed there.

"Niall," he gasped out once she'd put the radio down. She let out a breathy chuckle and rolled her hips back against him, making Louis groan loudly.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you," she said as she winked at him over her shoulder. "But we've got bigger things to worry about," she paused to let out a chuckle and pressed herself back against Louis to brush her lips against his ear as she whispered, "only _slightly_ bigger."

Louis groaned, grabbing at her hips to keep her in place as he pressed his mouth against hers again. All he wanted was to keep kissing her; to stay in that van until he'd tasted every inch of her skin. He let out a whimper when she pulled away and stood up, but he smirked when she stumbled on unsteady legs.

"Just you wait," Niall said with a smirk of her own, "m'not done with you."

*

The atmosphere in the room was far different than it had been when Louis had interrogated Liam, mainly due to the fact that Nick Grimshaw clearly knew exactly why he was here. If Louis was going to gain the upper hand, it was going to take a bit of work.

"So, Mr. Grimshaw--"

" _Nick_ , please. Mister…?"

" _Detective_ Tomlinson."

"Ooh, fancy." He grinned. "Call me Nick; I've told Liam a hundred times to stop using that kinky language around me, lest I have to act on it and his boyfriend murder me in my sleep."

For the second time, Louis had to stop himself from saying something he absolutely shouldn't. He covered up his momentary lapse of judgment by clearing his throat and flipping through Nick's file.

"Speaking of Mr. Payne--" Nick tittered, but Louis promptly ignored it as he continued, "--he informed me that you're his _superior_."

"That is correct," Nick replied, his grin still firmly in place. "Hired him m'self."

"Right. So then would I be correct in saying that you're a rather _essential_ part of the business?"

"You could say that."

"I did say that," Louis remarked flatly. "I asked if it's correct."

"You're cute when you're mad." Nick propped his chin in the palm of his hand and Louis rolled his eyes. "Pity I didn't run into you in the club."

"Positively devastated, I assure you." Louis cleared his throat. "Now what can you tell me about the George family's involvement with this club?"

Nick sighed heavily. "It's not what you think."

"Oh?" Louis quirked an eyebrow and Nick groaned.

"Look, m'not a bloody drug dealer, alright?"

"You just work with them."

"Yes. No!" Nick groaned again. "Don't put words in my mouth, yeah?"

"M'not trying to put anything in your mouth." Nick's mouth turned upwards in a smirk and Louis rolled his eyes.

"Pity."

"Get back to the point, Grimshaw."

"I just--" Nick sighed. "I just needed a bit of help, yeah? The club wasn't doing so well when it was just starting out, and I didn't know _who_ Max George was when he offered to help finance it in exchange for…"

"For what?" Louis pressed.

"All he wanted was free reign of the space, yeah? Seemed like a good deal at the time." Nick ran a nervous hand through his hair and shrugged his shoulders. "By the time I figured out what they were _doing_ , well, I couldn't exactly tell them to sod off, could I?"

"You could've come to the police."

"Yeah, fat lot of good that would've done me. I'd've been dead months ago." Nick huffed.

"Instead you're facing quite the number of felonies," Louis started ticking them off on his hand and Nick's face fell, "aiding and abetting, drug trafficking, not to mention if you own the bloody building they could easily pin it all on you."

"But it's not me!" Nick cried. "I've never even touched the stuff!"

"Which is why I'm going to make you a deal. In exchange for your testimony against the George family, I'll try and knock your own sentence down as much as I can."

"You'll _try_?" Nick scoffed. "What good is your trying going to do me when Max's thugs come to murder me in my sleep?"

"Christ, what is it with you and getting murdered in your sleep? Do you sleep that much?"

Nick tapped his fingers on the desk nervously as he ran his other hand through his hair again, exhaling loudly as Louis stared him down.

"Alright. What do I have to do?"

Louis spent the next hour taking down Nick's full testimony - trying his best not to lose his mind when Nick went off topic - but by the end, he had enough to put the George family away for a very long time.

"One more thing," Louis said just as he was about to leave the room, "you mentioned that there was a big deal going down tonight, yeah?"

"As far as I know, yeah." Louis rolled his eyes, but didn't comment on Nick's remark.

"Did you see a blonde woman hanging around? 'Bout my height, Irish, curses like a sailor on leave?"

Nick thought for a moment then shook his head. "Can't say I did, love."

"Right," Louis muttered. "Stay here, I'll send someone in for you."

"Detective?" Louis paused. "Pity that you're not on my team, with an arse like yours you could've gone pro."

Louis shut his eyes and steeled his jaw, willing himself not to react. Nick's cackle followed him through the door as he slammed it behind him.

Despite having a mountain of paperwork on his desk to fill out, Louis had been staring at his phone for the better part of fifteen minutes. He kept willing it to light up with a text or call from Niall; something to let him know that she was okay. His fingers were itching to send another text, but he knew that there had to be a damn good reason for Niall to not respond to his first one.

He never would've expected her to waltz into the precinct five minutes later with Max George himself in custody. As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, the grin on her face just added to Louis' torment.

At first, Louis didn't know what to think. He was torn between being relieved that Niall was there - and apparently, totally unharmed - and being _absolutely furious_ that she hadn't thought to check in. As it turned out, Captain Cowell was equally as upset because as soon as Max George was hauled off for questioning, Niall was shut up in the Captain's office.

All Louis could do was wait for her to come back out, and try not to want to tear his hair out in the meantime.

*

By the time Niall emerged from the Captain's office, Louis had completed most of his paperwork and was getting ready to head home for the night. In all honesty, Louis hadn't been planning on leaving until Niall came out, but there was no harm in being prepared. Just because he was rather angry at Niall for going MIA didn't mean he wasn't going to wait around for her.

Actually speaking to her, well, that was an entirely different story.

"I'm _exhausted_ ," she said with a long exhale as she poured herself into the chair next to Louis' desk. He spared a glance at her out of the corner of his eye but otherwise made no indication that he'd heard her.

Niall tilted her head towards him with a small smile, trying to catch his eye. Louis kept his eyes on his desk, even as Niall crept her hand across his paperwork towards his arm.

"Lou," she whined softly. "Pay attention to me."

"Where were you?" he asked, doing his best to keep emotion out of his voice with so many of their colleagues around.

"Oh, come on, I just spent the last hour explaining myself to the Captain." Niall frowned. "Don't make me go through it again."

"I'm sorry," Louis replied shortly, suddenly pushing his chair away from his desk and getting up so quickly that Niall flinched, "I just spent the last _four_ hours wondering where the bloody hell you were, or if you were even still _alive_!"

"I-- Lou!" Niall groaned as she got up to ran after Louis, who was quickly making his way towards the exit. She managed to grab his elbow just after he'd strode through the door, pulling him aside quickly once they were on the street. "Would you stop?!"

"Why?" Louis rounded on her. "So you can explain why you didn't bother to check in? Why you deliberately disregarded _basic protocol_ and disappeared? Do you have any idea--"

"S'not like I planned it, Louis!" she cried. "If you'd been in my position, you would've done the same, I _know_ you would!"

"No, I'd never be that bloody reckless!"

"Reckless?" Niall repeated with a laugh. "That's rich, coming from the one who nearly got us both sacked because he couldn't keep his hands to himself!"

"I-- You shouldn't have been wearing that skirt!"

"Don't try that again, you can't blame it on my skirt!"

"I bloody well can, and I do!" Louis groaned. "Don't-- You're changing the subject, you absolute shit."

Niall beamed. "Just trying to make you smile, love."

Louis frowned - or at least, he tried to keep looking unimpressed with Niall, even as she stepped into his personal space and wrapped her arms around his waist. He exhaled as she pressed her face into his neck, murmuring apologies against his skin.

"You're cheating," he mumbled as his arms found their way around her, holding her close against him as his anger slowly faded away.

"No, you're just easy to sway," Niall replied as she pulled back and looked up at Louis with a smile. "I am sorry, though. You know I would've called if I could've."

"I know," Louis answered softly. "I was so worried, though. I can't even imagine what I'd do if--"

"Shh," Niall said quickly before pressing her lips against Louis'. "M'here now, aren't I?"

"Yeah…" Louis sighed softly as she continued pressing kisses along his jaw, trailing down his throat. His grip on her tightened as she traced over his sweet spot at the juncture of his neck and shoulder with her tongue, teasing the skin and driving Louis crazy.

It wasn't until Louis heard the sound of someone clearing their throat pointedly that he realized that they were in the middle of the street, in front of the precinct. Niall froze in his arms, looking up at Louis nervously before they both turned to face none other than Captain Cowell.

"I _thought_ I told you to go home, Horan." His eyes darted to Louis. "You too, Tomlinson."

"Yessir," they said simultaneously; both of their hearts were pounding within their chests under the Captain's stare, terrified of the repercussions of their actions.

He turned his back on them to re-enter the precinct, but stopped at the last moment to add,

"Oh, and so help me God, if you two fuck up another investigation because you can't keep your hands off each other, I'll sack you both so fast your heads will spin."

Louis and Niall stared at him, eyes wide and jaws fallen open.

"Having said that, I expect the paperwork on--" He waved his hand at the pair of them, "--whatever this is on my desk Monday morning."

"Yessir," they repeated. Captain Cowell gave a curt nod before he went back into the precinct, leaving Louis and Niall staring blankly after him.

"Well…" Niall said as she slowly turned to meet Louis' gaze, "...that escalated quickly."

Louis rolled his eyes as he leaned forward to catch her mouth with his own, smiling against her lips. Niall grinned into the kiss, giggling madly as he turned them both around and started walking down the sidewalk with his arms firmly wrapped around her waist.

"You're doing the paperwork, by the way," Louis murmured in her ear, making her laugh again.

"Only if you agree to another night at Woody's," Niall replied with a smirk. Louis squawked in protest, but Niall covered his mouth with her own before he could say anything. "What? If we're doing this, then I fully intend on showing off my hot boyfriend and making everyone jealous."

 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


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